The automatic Russian interplanetary station “Luna-25”, which launched on August 11 from the Vostochny cosmodrome, entered the lunar orbit, writes Interfax with reference to information from “Roskosmos”.
The flight is proceeding normally, all systems are working normally. Before entering Earth satellite orbit, the station fired the engines twice to correct the trajectory towards the Moon.
On August 21, the station should land on the lunar surface near the South Pole. The purpose of the expedition is to study the lunar soil, as well as search for traces of water.
The previous lunar station, the Soviet “Luna-24”, was launched in 1976.